


A Morning at the Aquarium

by afewmistakesago



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Captain Swan - Freeform, Captain Swan AU - Freeform, F/M, No Curse AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-05
Updated: 2015-06-05
Packaged: 2018-04-02 23:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4077598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afewmistakesago/pseuds/afewmistakesago
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Killian Jones works at the research aquarium downtown, and Emma Swan won tickets to go on a backstage tour. Things start off rocky, but they find they get along well after learning more about each other. Emma is highly interested in the man who's so interested in the aquarium, and works up the courage to ask him out despite her own self-doubt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Morning at the Aquarium

**Author's Note:**

> This is also the explanation for how Emma and Killian met in my primarily Rumbelle story, Gold’s Inc. You can read this without reading that, and vice versa. This is my first try writing Captain Swan.

It was too early to be at the aquarium. Emma Swan stepped out of her yellow bug, blinking at the cruel morning sun. She was used to night shifts, crashing at her apartment and sleeping until noon, waking up to be civil, then buzzing herself up on coffee until it was time for work. Being a deputy in Storybrooke wasn’t super exciting – the tickets she gave were mostly for speeding or petty theft, but she enjoyed her town and her coworkers. There wasn’t anything to complain about. Why she had to come to the downtown aquarium before it was even open was another story that she had lots to complain about.

After being the 28th caller on the local radio show, Emma Swan was informed she had tickets to a backstage tour of the Marina Research Aquarium. Her friends had been gathered around a booth at Granny’s Diner with her, and they squealed at her when they realized it was her that the DJ was talking to. Soon enough, an envelope with her tour time showed up at her door. There had been two tickets, but all of her friends claimed to be busy with work. She’d thought about asking Graham, but it might be awkward. They’d gone on a few dates, but decided to break it off when they realized they weren’t a perfect match – and dating someone you worked with could really get annoying. They’d settled in to a nice rhythm, and an ‘intimate’ aquarium tour wasn’t a good idea. Her friends insisted she attend solo, and so she went.

As she headed to the entrance of the aquarium, she thought it looked daunting. She’d gone here once during high school on a science field trip, but her and her friends had been more focused on gossiping and taking pictures of each other then learning. Maybe she’d learn something useful. Most likely not. She knocked on the door, tapping her foot impatiently. The door opened, and a man stood in front of her.

Hmm. He wore dark jeans, and a dark t-shirt that was covered by a lab coat. His hair was messy, like he’d just gotten out of bed, and Emma thought he was one of the few people who could pull off the scruffy half-bearded look. _“He’s not half bad,”_ Emma thought. She shoved the thought out of her mind and put on a forced smile, offering her hand for him to shake.

“Hi, I’m Emma Swan. I won the radio tour?”

“Emma. I’m Killian Jones, I’m a conservation biologist here at the aquarium,” he said, welcoming her in to the entrance. Emma noticed the aquarium had several hallways, each leading to different exhibits.

Killian continued as they walked to the first exhibit, “I help manage the animals and plants we have here, and I do research here, which is published in various aquatic magazines. We’re a research aquarium, meaning any funds we gather go right back in to our aquarium. The research we do helps the marine community learn more about the ecosystems we recreate so we can better understand and care for our oceans and rivers. We also take in animals who’ve been abused by amusement parks or harmed in nature.”

Emma nodded, impressed. “You know your stuff, Mr. Jones.”

He smiled at her. “Please, call me Killian. And it’s all in the script, of course,” he said with a wink.

She looked towards the vast tank they were approaching. It was filled with dozens of kinds of tropical fish, and she found herself zoning out as Killian went back on to his speech about whatever was going on here. _“I’d like to be a fish,”_ she thought, _“to just swim in a circle all day. Fish have no troubles.”_ It seemed Killian was done talking, as she was jolted from her train of thought by him clearing his throat.

“Any questions?”

“What? No. Let’s go to the next place.”

Killian seemed to look disappointed in her as he guided them to the next location.

“You know,” he began cautiously; “you’re getting an experience most people never get. We’re not open to the public yet, I’m here to answer any questions you might have…”

Emma scoffed. “Well, forgive me for not being a fish person in the morning.”

_“Good, Emma, make the hot aquarium worker hate you. Nice work,”_ she sarcastically thought to herself. Her friends often told her she was too guarded, a symptom of being a foster child who bounced around until finding a permanent home in Storybrooke as a teenager.

Killian arrived at a door marked “staff only” and motioned for her to enter. She obliged, and found herself watching the sea lions from the top of their enclosure.

“These babies are all rescue,” he said proudly.

“The sea lions are your children?” she said, raising an eyebrow. She stood a bit away from him, hands crossed over her chest and watching the creatures with an air of disapproval.

“Mmmhmm,” he said. Killian suddenly whistled, and a sea lion with a missing flipper suddenly slid up on the rock closest to the pair of them.

“Starla! Say hi to Emma! Say hi!” he said encouragingly, making a back and forth motion with his hand at the sea lion.

The sea lion obeyed, and used it’s one flipped to “wave” to Emma before Killian threw her a treat, sliding back in to the water and splashing them.

“She’s a bit of a show-off,” said Killian, whispering to Emma.

That got a laugh out of her, and he smiled as led them to the next room.

“Now, I’m really not supposed to let you in here. But it seems you desperately need a cup of coffee, so…”

Emma smirked. “Don’t mind if I do,” she said, walking in to the employee break room before him.

Killian used the Keurig to quickly brew two cups of coffee for them, offering Emma sugar and cream as they sat at a small table. She shook her head, and he looked at her incredulously. “Don’t tell me you drink it plain black?”

“Since I was fourteen,” she said, raising her mug to him in a mock toast. “And thank you.”

“You won the tour, I think you should be in a good mood to take it,” he said, adding cream to his own mug. “So, Emma, what do you do for a living? Nothing with fish, obviously.”

“No, no fish involved. I’m a deputy for Storybrooke’s police department. It’s a town about 45 minutes away from here.”

“Ah, a woman of the law. Here we sit, breaking the rules of the aquarium.”

“It’s for coffee. I’ll allow it,” she said, sipping her drink. “Where are you from? Originally?”

“London, but I haven’t been there in years. That’s the accent, if that’s what you’re wondering,” he said, answering her question. Nice accent for a nice guy.

“You caught me,” she confirmed.

“Don’t worry, I won’t arrest you.”

After they had finished their coffees over more polite conversation, Killian led Emma to another exhibit of jellyfish. “We know a lot about jellyfish, but their brains are very intricate things,” he said, watching them fascinatedly as they bobbed up and down. Emma smiled to herself. He was like a kid in a candy shop, really, so excited to enlighten her on everything. He was in love with his job, it was evident. She admired that he was so dedicated to learning and teaching people about the marine world.

After the jellyfish, they looked at some displays of various displays and photos, with him providing her a world of details for each. They arrived at a tank with a random assortment of fish and sharks, and Emma’s eye was caught by a terrifying-looking eel.

“Those are so scary looking,” she said, pointing to the eel and moving towards Killian.

“They’re not my favorite,” he admitted, as the eel slithered back and forth with an infinitely open mouth and gaping eyes.

“C’mon,” she said, “let’s get away from… that.”

“As you wish,” he said, placing his hand on her shoulder as he directed her to another worker-only area. Emma cooed over baby turtles, and saw a batch of heron’s eggs that were beginning to hatch. She saw plants in various stages of growth that were being grown in the open air, and Killian explained each thing she saw with careful attention to details.

It seemed like the tour was over almost as soon as it had began.

“Any last questions?” said Killian as they circled back to the entrance.

“I wanted to ask… how do you deal with the fish smell?” said Emma, crinkling her nose as it hit her again.

“What smell?” he replied with a laugh.

“I bet your girlfriend hates it,” she insisted. This was pushing it for Emma, waiting for him to confirm or deny if he was single. A girl could dream about an aquarium worker, right?

“No girlfriend to complain, but my roommate does. I shower right when I get home.”

“Gotcha,” she said as they slowly moved towards the door. “Well, Killian, despite my early grumpiness, I really did enjoy this tour. It’s very obvious you love your fish, and they love you. Thank you.”

He bowed his head, embarrassed. “My pleasure, truly. I hope you’ll come back and visit.”

She nodded. “I’ll have to bring my friend’s here and teach them everything you taught me.”

“You have too! Share your newfound knowledge with the world,” he smirked.

Emma knew the door was getting closer and closer as they danced around making any moves for each other.

“Uh, if someone bought a tour, how much would it cost? Just curious. Might want to see if my friend wants to bring her second graders on one.” Using Mary Margaret as an excuse was good, right?

“Well, I don’t normally do the tours, actually. The normal keeper who does them was sick and I was the only one willing. I don’t know how much they cost, but they’re not cheap.”

Emma wondered at her luck, winning tickets on the one day Killian had to do a tour. It was fate.

“Can-I-have-your -number?” she said quickly, holding her breath until he replied.

“I thought you’d never ask,” he said, as she pulled her phone from her pocket.

“Just in case I’ve got questions. About fish, you know.”

“Of course, love.”


End file.
